Yeast Overgrowth Syndrome

Posted on January 2, 2013 by mcminnclinic

“I never got better until they treated the yeast.” I have heard this statement many times from patients suffering from various maladies such as headaches, brain fog, depression, irritable bowel, chronic sinusitis, weight gain, and fatigue. Due to the modern day world that we live in I am seeing more and more people suffering with yeast overgrowth. Old fashioned doctors used to say that “good health starts in the gut.” I think that they were right.

Poor gut health can manifest itself in many ways. Ideally we have a perfect balance in our guts with good bacteria, bad bacteria, and yeast. It is a symbiotic relationship. We can not live without our friends the “good bacteria.” Yet the modern American lifestyle tends to promote poor gut health. The standard American diet (or SAD diet) is full of sugar, simple carbs, and processed food, which is not good for the body, but which is ideal for the overgrowth of yeast. Yeast loves to feed off of sugar. When you combine this with the overuse of antibiotics in our society, it makes for a toxic environment in our guts, and that is often the beginning of a slippery slope to worsening health.

Chronic sinusitis is a classic example. We go to the doctor with a stuffy nose, and the standard response is to start antibiotics. However, according to the Mayo Clinic “fungus (yeast) is the likely cause of nearly all of these problems.” So in the long run, if we don’t treat the yeast, the antibiotics kill the bacteria, promote more yeast overgrowth and they can actually make the problem worse.

At McMinn Clinic we have Yeast Overgrowth Syndrome on our radar screen, and when appropriate we treat yeast overgrowth with a comprehensive and robust anti-fungal protocol. We have been blessed with many testimonials from our patients with stories of recovery, often after suffering with symptoms of yeast overgrowth for many years.

Call McMinn Clinic at 868-1313 and set up your appointment for a thorough evaluation for yeast overgrowth syndrome.

Grumpy Ol’ Man Syndrome

Posted on December 12, 2012 by mcminnclinic

On a given day if you asked my wife, she might claim that they named the above medical syndrome after her own beloved husband. I must admit that I have my good days and bad days on the home front. However, I take some comfort in knowing that I’m in good company. In fact, if my women patients are right, “grumpy ol’ man syndrome” has reached epidemic proportions.

The usual scenario is that the wives drag their husbands in, kicking and screaming the whole way. Of course, the men are in complete denial and are busily hoping that Scotty will beam them up at any moment and rescue them from any event in which “feelings” are discussed. Guys need to have just the right pretense for talking about such things. It’s OK to ask “how’s the marriage” when you’re riding around in a golf cart with a good ol’ buddy, or out in the middle of a lake on a fishing boat. It’s like foreplay; the only acceptable ways to engage in such conversation is if the foreplay is centered around football, golf, beer, fishing, hunting, or NASCAR. Just to cold turkey and purposely sit down and have a talk about sensitive issues such as feelings can seem extremely unmanly and may be down right uncomfortable, even with the doctor.

Fortunately the wives are on the case big time, and they usually have the common sense to come with their strong silent types to the initial doctor’s appointment. Although I know going into it, who is going to be the communicator, I at least show the guy enough respect to address the question directly to him. “How’s it going” I say. “Fine,” or some other one worder is usually about all I get. Then the truth spews forth like an Icelandic volcano from the fairer half. “He’s grumpy, sullen, irritable, moody, depressed, and he has no sex drive. He comes home after work and just crashes into his Lazyboy. He doesn’t have any energy, and he doesn’t want to do anything. He has no interests, no get up and go, no joy in life. He’s totally disconnected. And he’s getting fat and lazy.”

On the face of it such phrases may sound like fighting words. Instead, more often than not, he agrees with her, or through his silence and lack of argument one can assume that she is not too far from the truth. Now we’re starting to get somewhere. Just like when you look up at the summer night sky and see the big dipper, it all comes into focus. He has “Grumpy ol’ Man Syndrome.” Another name for this dreaded and all too common condition is “Andropause.” At that moment, I know that I can help him.

Just like women go through menopause, men go through a similar process wherein their levels of hormones (in this case testosterone) fall to well below the acceptable range. Also just as a woman’s menopause may have dramatic affects on her health, her mood, and her behavior, so too andropause may insidiously choke the life out of even the most macho of men. They often become a shell of their former selves. The men, their wives, family, friends, and co-workers all suffer the dreaded consequences of the decline in testosterone and its accompanying symptoms.

At the risk of seeming to be biased toward men, after all I personally fall into that category, I have to stand up for the guys just a bit and let them off the hook. In many instances they can’t help it. The behavior, as I described above, is not of their choosing, but instead it is often hormonally driven. If only they had a robust and balanced hormone profile they most likely would be their usual lovable and manly selves.

True story: I had a patient in the office just recently who fit this description to a tee. His wife drug him in back about 6 months ago with the classic symptoms of “grumpy ol’ man syndrome.” He was clinically depressed, grumpy, frail, had no libido and was starting to suffer from ED (erectile dysfunction). We did all the appropriate lab testing and found that his testosterone was quite low. I put him on a program of hormone repletion, nutritional supplementation, and life style changes. WOW! He came back in for his follow-up visit and announced that he was feeling fantastic. As he put it, his energy was “through the roof.” He could hardly believe what a difference the program had made for him. The depression was gone. Energy was better. He was exercising again. He was interested once again in sex, and interested in life in general. His ED had magically disappeared, and he was thinking much more clearly. He and his wife were both ecstatic. She had her beloved husband back. He had his life back, and they had their marriage back. There is no antidepressant or any other “drug” in this world which could have achieved this outcome for this patient.

Furthermore, low testosterone and andropause can have even more dire consequences. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine describes an 88% increase in mortality in male veterans with low testosterone. Other published studies form reputable medical journals have linked low testosterone with poor cognitive function, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, hardening of the arteries, heart failure, insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Testosterone decline may also contribute to abdominal obesity, decreasing muscle mass, joint pains, loss of self confidence, fatigue, disturbed sleep, anxiety, and excessive worry. Low testosterone is not just about muscles and libido. It is about optimal health, and even mortality.

Testosterone must be respected. Like all medications it must be used properly and must not be abused or used in excess. Testosterone replacement should never be done if it is not medically indicated. Furthermore, the replacement program must be conducted properly with adequate monitoring to attain optimal levels, while paying attention to possible side effects. If done properly, it is safe and may be profoundly effective. Testosterone replacement therapy is not for everybody. However, in the presence of “grumpy ol’ man syndrome” like with my patient described above, it can make a remarkable difference in the life of the patient and his partner.

Bottom line, if you suffer from “grumpy ol’ man syndrome,” get your T checked, and get it optimized. If your loved one shows signs of this dreaded disease, drag him in and get him checked for “low T.” You’ll be glad you did.

Feeling Fat, Fatigued, and Depressed; Think Low Thyroid

Posted on November 26, 2012 by mcminnclinic

Many experts now agree that millions of Americans are falling through the cracks when it comes to the diagnosis and management of low-thyroid conditions (hypothyroidism). Unfortunately, the lack of proper attention to this issue often results in the patient living a life of fatigue, low mood, struggles with obesity, and many other problems.

Although the thyroid gland is small, it has powerful effects on the body. Thyroid hormone regulates the metabolic rate of every single cell. If thyroid function is underactive (hypothyroid) a person can have a multitude of symptoms, sometimes subtle and sometimes profound. These symptoms may include, but are not limited to: fatigue, weight gain, cold extremities, low libido, dry skin, aches and pains, fibromyalgia, constipation, hair loss, brittle nails, poor memory, low stamina, headaches, puffy face, and low body temperature. Perhaps the most common and important of the symptom being varying degrees of fatigue.

Diagnosis of low thyroid conditions, like most medical conditions, starts with listening to and examining the patient. Symptoms, as mentioned above, family history, and physical signs often point to the diagnosis of hypothyroidism. If thyroid disease is suspected, a thorough lab evaluation should also be performed to assist in the diagnosis. However, the goal is to treat the whole patient, and not just to treat the labs.

If hypothyroid disease is confirmed, then proper treatment may include thyroid medications. There are several medications on the market, which may be quite helpful in relieving low thyroid symptoms. These include Synthroid, Armour thyroid, Cytomel, compounded thyroid, and others. One patient may respond well to a particular medicine, while another patient may find that a different medication works best to alleviate his or her thyroid related symptoms. Although Synthroid is often the drug of choice for many physicians, I have found Armour thyroid to be particularly effective in many of my low-thyroid patients. For others, Cytomel may be the key to alleviating their symptoms.

In summary, thyroid dysfunction is a condition that may have a profoundly negative impact on many patients. Yet according to various experts, millions of Americans suffer from inadequate diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. Proper evaluation and treatment of these patients may help tremendously in improving their symptoms, and their quality of life.

“Good Health Starts in the Gut.”

Posted on August 20, 2012 by mcminnclinic

As I reviewed the long list of initial symptoms, I was happy to hear the patient say that everything was “better, better, gone.”

Dr. McMinn: “How is the fatigue?”

Patient: “It’s much better doctor.”

Dr. McMinn: “How is the brain fog and anxiety?”

Patient: “They’re also much better.”

Dr. McMinn: “How is the diarrhea?”

Patient: “It’s gone.”

This patient had been to doctor after doctor for her various symptoms, but it wasn’t until we addressed her gut issues that she got better.

Old fashioned country doctors used to say that “good health starts in the gut,” and as I have become an older and perhaps wiser physician, I have become abundantly convinced that they were right all along.

Other organs may be “sexier” but the gut is where wellness begins. We marvel at the processing ability of the incredible human brain, and the heart amazes us with it heroic pumping marathon. We manicure our nails, and fuss over our hair. However, we take the lowly gut for granted, as if we’d rather not acknowledge, much less to glorify, a mere poop factory. Yet the oft-ignored gut frequently holds the key to good health, and likewise poor gut heath may manifest in all sorts of bodily havoc. I have seen miracle cures for many different maladies by attending to gut issues. Seemingly unrelated diseases and symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, headaches, rashes, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, ADD, autism, sinusitis and many more health problems may be linked back to poor gut health.

Let’s take a look at some of the issues affecting gut health:

*Diet: Let’s begin with what we put in our mouths. Certainly the MAD diet (Modern American Diet) has not helped the situation. It’s amazing to me that our bodies can survive the daily onslaught of junk food, processed food, transfats, sugar, and toxins as well as it does. The term “garbage in garbage out” frequently applies to computers. However, the same principle is applicable to the human body. We feed our bodies garbage, and yet we expect this to miraculously turn into healthy cells. Instead, our junk diets wreak a heavy toll on gut health, which then dominoes onto other bodily parts and functions.

*Stress: This is one of the main fundamental causes of disease. Stress can take its toll on just about any body part and the gut is no exception. Stress is often associated with issues such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel disease, and chronic diarrhea. Ulcers, leaky gut, cramps, poor digestion, and stomach upset.

Food Allergies and Sensitivities: The gut has the daunting challenge sifting through every single molecule we eat and of deciding what to let in, and what keep out. That’s one reason that we call the gut “the second brain.” To meet this challenge, approximately 70% of our immune system lies in the gut.

For millions of years our ancestors ate a “natural” diet of berries, fruits, vegetables, roots, and leaves. They killed critters and ate fish for lean protein. Now let’s fast forward to the modern American grocery store. Most of the food we might find in the center isles may rightfully be considered by our bodies to be like a foreign body, and thus generate an immune response. This untoward immune response may express itself in all sorts of clinical symptoms. Our food has changed drastically in a relatively short period of time, but our immune system is genetically the same as our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Poor Digestion: Next time you find yourself at the drug store, take a moment to walk down the isles and look at the over-the- counter medications. You’ll find that by far, the number one item is the digestive and gastrointestinal aids. Year after year, Nexium and its acid blocking cousins are at the top of the charts in terms of prescriptions sold. These powerful acid blockers, as well as the seemingly benign antacids like Tums, interfere with our natural digestive ability. As such, we may not get the nutrients form our food that we need to maintain healthy cells.

Bacterial Imbalance (Dysbiosis): The human body exists in an amazing state of synergistic balance with our gut flora. Perhaps an oversimplification, but this mainly consists of “good bacteria,” “bad bacteria,” and yeast. We cannot survive without our “good bacteria.” Unfortunately, we frequently kill off the good bacteria with the antibiotics that we take. Also, with the sugar ladened diets we frequently find our guts in a miserable state of yeast overgrowth. This can result in bowel wall inflammation, and eventually “leaky gut syndrome.” A cascade of inflammatory and immune reactions then take place which can affect the far reaches of the body, including brain, bones, skin, auto-immune disease, etc.

Similarly, parasites may add another twist to the complex milieu of bacterial flora.

A simple plan for gut health recovery involves the 4R program: Remove, Repair, Restore, and Replace. This program is available in the integrative medical literature, and I have had great success by adopting it in my practice.

Step One: Remove the stressors on the gut such as the drugs, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, tobacco, and other poor food choices that we find in the modern American diet. A gut detoxification program may be helpful in this regard.

Step Two: Repair the damage with optimal nutrition, stress reduction, etc. Targeted nutritionals may help such as aloe vera juice, quercitin, licorice root, garlic, tumeric, digestive enzymes, and fish oils.

Step Three: Restore a healthy bacterial balance with high quality probiotics. Cutting out unnecessary antibiotics, treating yeast, and reducing the sugar in the diet may also help.

Step Four: Replace the deficient elements such as digestive enzymes, which can have a major impact on digestion and utilization of nutrients.

In summary, continue to ignore and abuse the gut and you will reap the unhealthy consequences. Give the gut the respect it’s due, and you will enjoy the many benefits in the years to come. Start today with the 4R program; remove, repair, restore, and replace gut health program in order to achieve optimal overall wellness.

Fatigue: A Treatable Disease

Posted on July 23, 2012 by mcminnclinic

Out west the ol’ cowboys might say, “my get up and go has done got up and went”. In the east they may complain of “demininsed Qi”. Whereever you go, east or west, fatigue is one ot fhe most common complaints voiced in the doctor’s office. Fatigue can be mild and nagging or it can be severe and debilitating. It affects not only the patient, but also his or her family, and loved ones. Unfortuantely, getting to the root cause of fatigue can be difficult. Rarely is work-up simple, and more often than not there may actually be multiple problems contributing the symptoms of fatigue.

Fatigue has many friends, It is often accompanied by aches and pains, headache, tension, deprdession, muscle spasms, mental fogginess, insomnia, and sometimes even a low grade fever. Some of my patients have morning fatigue. It is a major struggle for these patients just to get out of bed in the morning. Others may notice that they crash in the afternoon or early evening. Fatigue can come on suddenly, or it may present insideously. Many of my fatigue patients don’t recall ever having energy, as far back as they can remember.

Since the cause may be varied and multiple, the work-up may be complicated and prolonged. Even then, after an exhaustive work-up the root cause may be difficult to flush out. The process often starts with a history and physical exam. Hopefully that will stear us in the right direction. Lab work is often helpful. Occaisionally imaging studies may be in order. Ultimately, causes may include stress, poor nutrition, toxins, anemia, allergies, yeast, parasited, infection, hypoglycemia, leaky gut syndromes, insuin resistance, depression, smoking, alchlol, insomnia, side effects to medications, work place issues, relationship issues, digestive problems, heart problems, chronic pain, lack of exercise, HIV, cancer, medications, alcohol, shift work, grief, adrenal burnout, and hormone problems.

The key to success in treating fatigue is to leave no stone unturned. All of these issues must be addressed. The good news is that with a thorough, customized program over 90% of patients will experience significant relief from their fatigue program.

Bottom line- fatigue should be considered a treatable disease! At McMinn Clinic we specialize in fatigue. Come see Dr. McMinn, “the energy doctor,” to going on the path to optimal wellness and abundant energy.

Energy Medicine: E= MC2

Posted on June 16, 2012 by mcminnclinic

E=mc² by James E. McMinn, M.D.

I wish I could claim that I devised the E=mc² formula all by myself, however I’m sure that even the non-physicist would see through such a ruse. This is perhaps the most famous formula every concocted. It is also magnificent in it’s simplicity, beauty, elegance, and power. By now, you may be thinking that I have changed my focus from wellness to physics. On the contrary, I remain totally focused on the former, but I use this amazing formula to point out that the fundamental laws of nature apply to everything in the universe, including the human body.

This quintessential equation devised by the brilliant Albert Einstein tells us that there are many orders of magnitude more energy in the universe than matter. In fact if one were to break it down to it’s basic components, the chair you are sitting on, or the car you are riding in, or your own very body is 99.999999….% energy. The undisputed equation “E=mc^2” tells us that this must be so. It is proven without a doubt. You are barely matter at all, but instead, you are bundles of vibrating intelligent energy. Furthermore, your energy is an integral part of the universal fabric of energy. It is this energy which is the stuff of your existence. It is your pattern of intelligent vibration of the energy that makes you unique. It is the life force energy that makes you alive. It is disruption in the patterns and the flow of this energy that contributes to the root cause of disease.

Yet I challenge you to scour the index of any major textbook of modern western medicine for a discussion about energy. You won’t find it. I tried. There seems to be a disconnect here. Certainly the nature of matter and energy as described above is now a proven scientific fact. Furthermore, modern western medicine claims to be based on science. In fact, it is this scientific basis which sets apart modern western medicine from “alternative medicine.” Yet the powers that be in modern medicine seem to ignore the inconvenient truth of E=mc², and focus only on those areas which support their own hypotheses and belief systems. You’ll find elegant descriptions of the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, and many other systems. You’ll find a breakdown of the body into tissues, cells, and organelles. You’ll find details of the pathophysiology of disease along with descriptions of how things go wrong. You’ll also find prescriptions for drugs and surgery to fix them. However, you won’t find any mention of the life force energy that is at the core of your being.

This was not always the case. Every major culture before ours recognized energy as the prime factor in health and disease. In the first recorded philosophy of healing the practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine called it “prana.” The healers in the school of traditional Chinese medicine called it “Qi.” For thousands of years these practitioners have brought wisdom and healing to the people with powerful and proven tools such as yoga, meditation, herbal medicine, and acupuncture. To this day studies show that these ancient traditions of yoga and meditation can work as well as the drugs of modern western medicine for various medical maladies.

Modern western medicine on the other hand has not picked up on these proven tools of healing, or on the concept of energy, and has instead evolved into a two-pronged approach of drugs and surgery. Certainly, the prescription pad and the scalpel have their appropriate time and place. They have cured many diseases and have saved countless lives. We all should be eternally grateful for the contributions of these tools to our therapeutic armamentarium. If I have an appendix about to burst, take me STAT to the OR not to the yoga studio. On the other hand, if I have tension in my neck, I’m looking for my nearest acupuncturist or massage therapist, not the drug cabinet.

This reminds me of my old days as an ER doc. I must confess that I usually resorted to the prescription pad just like my colleagues. However, at the time of discharge I would sometimes write down the name of a local acupuncturist, or mention a local yoga studio. To be caught crossing the turf lines of western medicine would have been viewed as a total act of treason.

My point is this: Albert Einstein has proven what the yogis have known for many thousands of years. The proven fact of science is that at your core, you are an electric, magnetic, intelligent, vibrating, energy being. Nurture your energy with proper nutrition, hydration, sunlight, deep breathing, and laughter. Keep your energy flowing with yoga, Qi gong, tai chi, body-work, and acupuncture. Connect with your energy using mindfulness meditation or biofeedback. Live in harmony with the realization that you are a part of the universal fabric of energy (feng shui).

As a physician, I am confident in my assertion that in health and in illness, attention to these practices will promote a better, healthier, more connected, and more vibrant you.